Friday evening. We're going to Aspen tomorrow! I was currently seated in a high end beauty salon along with Ava and Emilia on their insistence. So far we've gotten a full body wax, our eyebrows done and facials.We were in the midst of manis and pedis.

"Chris won't be coming tomorrow." Emilia mentioned out of the blue.

"But you're still coming right?" Ava asked.

"Yeah, but I am gonna be the only one alone there."

I chuckled and they both glanced at me. I was miserable, I was the one who wasn't gonna have a real partner but keep up appearances.I cleared my throat, "I'm sorry, Emilia.But hey, you're not gonna be the only one alone there. Ethan's friend Ace is also there without anyone. " She nodded, uninterested. Chris had been very distant from Emilia lately. I wondered why but I didn't want to bring up the topic or everyone's mood will go down.

"Alright then, bright and early tomorrow, we leave for Aspen!" I cheered.

"Wow, it's even more beautiful than I imagined it to be." I stood in front of a wooden villa , calling it a cabin would be too humble.It was surrounded by dense trees on it's 3 sides and the front gate opened to a lavish driveway which went on for miles.

Liam just chuckled. "Come on in, it's too cold." Ethan was already on his way in.

"You know, Skylar? It's been years since Ethan last came here. He hasn't taken a day off in 7 years and has worked his ass off. Going to Hawaii and then coming here within one year is wondrous.Even Dad was shocked because he never even took a sick leave."

"What? 7 years?! The day he was sick, he insisted to go to work I had to drag him home! Do you know why is he so closed off and immersed himself into work?"

"Eh, I never really knew the exact reason but as far as I know, Dad and him were always at odds about something and when he ascended the position, he decided to immerse himself in work.Maybe he'll tell you if you ask him."

"Yeah, like that's ever gonna happen." I muttered under my breath. I was sympathetic to him but I couldn't really empathise with him. Not until I knew why he is the way he is.

The cabin was warm, a great relief from the chilly winds that were blowing outside. Ethan and Ace had already made themselves comfortable on the couch with glasses of scotch.

"Skylar! It's nice to see you again." Ace exclaimed as he saw me.

"You too, Ace." I smiled at him.

Asher, Ava and Emilia came in just a moment later.

"Hey! You guys made it!" Zach exclaimed.

Emilia was shivering, she never was the one who could handle too much cold. As I moved towards her, I saw Ace draping a blanket over her.

"I think you should sit near the fireplace." He suggested to her.

Em was shocked and she just nodded slowly.

"Okay, everyone ! Freshen up and then we can think about what to do for dinner since we don't have a cook." Everyone dispersed to their rooms except Em and Ace who were still sitting near the fireplace. And then it dawned on me. Ethan and I would have to share a room, damnit.

I followed him upstairs and we entered a room. It was beautiful but smaller compared to our rooms in the penthouse. Again, there was only one bed. I'm tired of this happening again and again. It being this cold, there was no chance any of us were gonna sleep on the couch.

Ethan was near the fireplace of our room, trying to light it up with the remote.

After a while both of us had freshened up and we went downstairs, only to see everyone sitting cozily with each other near the fireplace, except Em and Ace, they maintained a distance. I could see something between the two of them but I cannot acknowledge it unless they see it for themselves, plus Em and Chris are together.

"Ethan, Sky grab a blanket and get in here!" Zach sounded very enthusiastic.

It was like movie night, all over again. I looked up at Ethan who refused to meet my gaze. With growing tension between us, it was getting harder and harder to keep up a show. To my surprise Ethan grabbed a blanket and then slipped his hand into mine. He was leading us to the only empty single chair. Ethan sat in first and then I slipped in the narrow space beside him. He opened the blanket and covered the both of us. This was getting weirder. Ava was looking at us adoringly. I'm pretty sure I was blushing by now.

I was flailing my left hand around to keep it somewhere but in a space this small, I had to hang it out of the blanket.It was too cold but as I lifted my hand up, Ethan took it and kept it on his chest. What is with him today? We were now in a comfortable position but I felt super awkward being this close to him.

"So there's a slight snag with the food. All the things in here weren't restocked on such a short notice and the maintenance staff has already left for today."

Everyone groaned.

"So if only some of us could go out and get the groceries, we could definitely whip up something."

"I'll go." Ethan said as he started getting up.

"You aren't going alone, take someone with you." Ava said.

"It's fine, Ace can come with me." I could see him not wanting to go.

"Leave Ace, he seems tired. I'll come." I don't know why I said that.

"Yeah, she knows what I like." Em said as she was now smiling. Was she happy that Ace didn't have to go?

"Are you two sure? it's cold out there." Asher asked as he finally looked up from his phone.

Ethan just nodded and grabbed his keys.

My teeth chattered against each other, I was shivering despite being inside the tiny store.

"Who asked you to volunteer?" Ethan said, I just ignored him and went ahead to grab a basket.

He held my hand and shook his head, he was holding a cart in his other hand. I let go.

We went through different aisles and picked up a bunch of stuff.I saw a wine shelf and glanced at Ethan, sideways.He looked at me and smirked , "Not here.", he said. I smiled. In my hurried pace, I accidentally bumped into a rack. Ethan just shook his head at my clumsiness.I ignored him, again. We soon paid for the stuff and made our way out.

"So, where to now?" He ignored me. Typical.

It was calming to drive amidst all this snow and almost no traffic, so much different from the busy streets of New York.I could see a calm settled on Ethan's face as well, so much different from the snarky and business oriented New York Ethan.

We stopped in front of a brewery and entered. This man sure loved his wine. We entered a small bell announcing our presence, the shop was quaint.

"I'm sorry, we're closed for today." I heard as an old man in about his mid 60s came out from behind.He then looked at Ethan and was shocked , "Ethan?"

"Yes, Larry. How are you?" Seemed like they knew each other.

"Ethan, my boy. I thought I'd never see you again, long time." He patted Ethan on the back. "And who is this pretty lady?"

"This is Skylar, my wife." My heart stopped for a moment and then started beating rapidly. I'd never get used to the fact of him acknowledging me as his wife.

"You got married? Congratulations! Now come on in."

"We'll take the usual."Ethan said as he pointed towards the shelf ,"2 bottles." He reached for his wallet.

"No, this one is on the house." Larry said.

"No Larry, I cannot do that. The bottles are expensive as it is, you'll incur a loss."

"Heh, look at you. Being the cashier just like olden days. How about you pay only for one of them." Did Ethan use to work here?

"Alright." A genuine smile graced his face--these were rare.

On the way home I decided to ask him.

"How did you know the guy there?"

"Who, Larry?"

I nodded.

"I used to work there as a cashier when I was a teenager."That's very humble of him.

"You mean when you came here for vacations?"

"Yeah."

"Ethan , I don't understand. It's very visible that you love this place. Why did you exactly stop coming here?"

"I got caught up in work."

"Yeah but 7 years is a long time. Liam told me that you've never even taken a day off work."

"Skylar, I don't want to talk about it." His knuckles tightened on the steering wheel, they turned almost white. I decided to shut my mouth, even the smallest of things seemed to trigger him.

We reached home and handed the bag to Zach and Ava, they were standing in the kitchen preparing for the dinner. I was headed near the fireplace when I heard a whistle.

"Someone forgot something in here." Ava said as she held up a little box.

A box of condoms? Oh god , did Ethan put it in there? What the fuck was he thinking? I turned my gaze towards him but he seemed just as surprised as I was. Maybe he didn't put it in then.

My mind went back to the rack I bumped into tat the store, it must've fallen in then! Before I could say or do anything, Ethan swiftly took the box from Ava.

"I'll take this, thanks." There were a few more whistles and I was a literal puddle on the floor.

We had a great dinner accompanied by the wine we got. Everyone was tired because of the long ride so we turned in early.

I came in the room, Ethan had propped himself against the headboard. He was reading a novel. At least we had something in common. I cleared my throat and he ignored me as usual.

I did it again and he then he answered me, "I'm reading." It was like a pattern, I wanted to talk to him, I cleared my throat, he ignored me and then shot back a snarky comment .

"I can see that. I just wanted to ask you, why did you own up that box?"

"Would you rather that I embarrass both of us by throwing those away or saying that they don't belong to us and make everyone suspicious of our relationship?"

I just sighed and nodded. I changed and got into bed, now that I knew why he did it, I was at peace. Not that I expected him to say anything else. I shut my eyes as we had to go skiing tomorrow . I was very excited.

I heard someone mumbling outside the door and then I heard giggles.I'm pretty sure Ethan heard it too as he looked towards the door.I got up and opened the door without a warning to see Emilia and Ace standing on the staircase giggling.

"That was so lame." Em chuckled as she covered her mouth.I cleared my throat and they both looked up at me, embarrassed. I could feel the warm presence of Ethan behind me I stole a glance at him and he raised one of his eyebrows up, looking questioningly at Ace.

"Alright, then. I'm gonna head to bed. Goodnight everyone." Em said hurriedly as she went into her room.Ace just gave us an embarrassed smile and left.

Young love, wish I was lucky enough for that.